The Internet has been used to facilitate presentations. Previous systems have included the capability of presenting over the Internet audio and video of a presenter delivering a presentation. Previous systems have also coordinated the simultaneous delivery of presentation slides or graphics along side the audio and video of the presenter, using programs such as PowerPoint available from Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash. Some of these previous systems have even allowed audience feedback and participation.
For example, the StreamGenie Presenter product available from Pinnacle Systems, Inc. of Mountain View, Calif. allows the use of multiple cameras and switching between different cameras. The StreamGenie Presenter product also provides for simultaneous Real Networks and Windows Media encoding; professional titling, graphics, and 3D effects. It requires additional software for PowerPoint integration and an advanced copy of PowerPoint slides. As a result, the StreamGenie Presenter product requires a high degree of authoring and pre-production processing.
The WebLearner product available from Tegrity, Inc. of San Jose, Calif. includes the hardware and software you need to automatically create and deliver e-learning classroom teaching. Features of the WebLearner product include synchronizing audio and video with slides, writing and drawing annotations synchronized with presenter voice data, a moving pointer created automatically from instructor's laser pointer on projected slides, screen recordings of application demos integrated with a presentation, and automatically generated indexing of slides and instructor activity along with links to online resources. However, the WebLearner product is complicated and difficult for presenters to use and requires a great deal of authoring and pre-production processing.
Yet another example is the CommuniCast 1000 product available from e-StudioLIVE of Tewksbury, Mass. This product creates a webcast in real-time for interactive live or on-demand viewing. Users attach a camera and microphone to the system and use the system to automate pre-production, presentation and delivery of webcast presentations. Like the other example products discussed, the CommuniCast 1000 requires a high degree of authoring and pre-production processing.
Conventional systems either work exclusively with programs, such as Microsoft's PowerPoint, to pre-process and stage graphics before an event or graphic content is attached after the event. Indeed, conventional rich media presentation systems lack the ability to capture and include graphic content with the video stream during an event. There is a need for a rich media event production system and method that includes the capturing, indexing, and synchronizing of RGB-based graphic content.